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BISCUITS
Biscuits are bread or cake that has been dried to lower moisture content. The
word biscuit derive from the French words 'bis', which means twice, and 'cuit', which means cooked. When biscuits were made in France in the 1700s they cooked the dough in a bread tin, then put it back in the oven a second time on a tray so that it cooked a little longer and dried out more.
Advances in biscuit technology is brought about like any other industries.
That is:
- Quality
- Consistency
- Price
- Manufacturing efficiency
- Development of line extensions and
introduction of value added products.
- Shelf life extension
Quality
If the quality of a product is seen to be poor by consumers, then losses in market share. Modern consumers are more quality-conscious; while increased competition in the market place ensures that there is more option of choice.
Consistency*
Consistency is very important to a manufacturer wishing to instill brand loyalty in their consumers. Consistency to a product is very necessary, especially for biscuit manufacturers, as most of the high-speed wrapping machines now used, require a very consistent size and shape if they are going to work at optimum speeds.
Price
Price competition for the snacking dollar is increasing. Biscuit manufacturers compete against confectionery, chip and drink manufacturers, so it is necessary to maintain a competitive price on biscuits, just as much as on other products.
Manufacturing efficiency
Manufacturing efficiency improvement bears an obvious relationship to maintaining company profits. It also assists in price maintenance.
Line extensions and value added products
Line extensions and introduction of value added products assist a manufacturer to maintain and increase market share domestically and export. Having a continuous flow of value added products are essential to maintain a strong market presence.
Shelf-life
Any product that can last on the shelf for twelve months, rather than just six months, will have much greater acceptance by distributors, supermarket chains and exporters. It would also allow greater plant flexibility and efficiency due to the potential for larger production runs.
*The following pages show the different ingredients variation contributes to the consistency of the finished products. Experiment was done with Mr. Roy Chung of US Wheat Associates in Bangkok, Thailand.
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